The prayer of the righteous availeth much.
God heareth him in Heaven, his dwelling place; God answers him without hesitation. It
would seem impossible for any reasonable being to study carefully the life of Mr. Spurgeon
as a prayerful Christian and not come to the deliberate conclusion that God does hear and
directly answer prayer. We have referred to it before in speaking of the wonderful cures
which followed his prayers; but here again, we are obliged to enter into the realm of the
miraculous and hear and tell of wonderful things for which no natural law gives an
adequate explanation.

Hard, solid, undeniable facts remain still
facts, and command the respect and faith of sensible men though they may be often
partially hidden by the surging waves of theory which dash and break around them.

"God cannot answer prayer" says the
unbeliever, and yet here are these facts established beyond any opportunity of reasonable
contradiction.

"The Lord will not change his natural
laws to accommodate any single human being," has often been asserted by the
theologians who claim to believe in the teachings of Scripture. They strongly assert that
the day is past when God will perform miracles at the request of any of his children; yet
here was a Godly man whose character was above reproach, whose sincerity is unquestioned
and who moved among a cloud of witnesses, whose petitions to God were in hundreds of
mysterious ways directly answered.

The serious investigator will find his life
experience a very fascinating field of research and the humble believer in Jesus of
Nazareth will find encouragement in the exercise of faith and in the command to pray. A
study of his methods and the record of its results must be of great practical use to every
Christian man and woman who would imitate his character or who desires the same return for
their petitions. His prayer for himself was answered many thousand times from the day when
he first asked God for the forgiveness of his sins to the last day when he asked that the
sustaining support of the everlasting arms might be underneath him.

He was continually testifying of the
wonderful goodness of God in granting to him the things for which he asked. That he
petitioned for many things which he did not receive is also certain and while it
complicates the problem somewhat it does not overthrow the testimony in cases where God
did send to him the needed blessing.

He had a most charming habit of going to God
in prayer in the midst of any perplexity and asking the Lord to give him a calmness of
spirit. He often testified that after such a petition his anxieties seemed to pass away.
He laid them all upon the Lord and he could enter upon his work encouraged and in a most
peaceful disposition. Sometimes when worry came to him as it comes to nearly every human
being he would bethink himself to his Great Helper and turn aside to seek a quiet
opportunity to ask the Lord to relieve him of his anxiety.

He testified in 1889 that never in his life
had he worried about anything beyond the time when he could secure the opportunity to turn
aside to prayer. When he was in most fearful pain and suffering with those rheumatic
twinges which drew him into positive contortion he could turn away in sincere prayer and
become so lost in worship as to feel no longer conscious of torture. He found that he
could receive such inspiration from the mysterious spirit of God as enabled him to pass
many happy hours while afflicted by one of the most terrible diseases which ever comes to
a person with sensitive nerves.

At the Mildmay Conference in 1890 Mr.
Spurgeon said: "After a period of continued pain, with little sleep, I sat up, as
best I could, one morning in my bed in an agony of pain, and I cried to the Lord for
deliverance. I believed fully that he could deliver me then and there, and I pleaded my
son-ship and his Fatherhood. I went to the length of pleading that he was my Father, and I
said, if it were my child that suffered so, I would not let them suffer any longer
if I could help him. Thou canst help me and by thy Fatherly love I plead with thee
to give me rest. I felt that I could add, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as
thou wilt. But I did the first thing first. I pleaded with my Father, and went first
where Christ went first, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me. I shall never forget my success in my appeal. In real earnest I believed God to
be my Father, threw myself upon him, and within a few moments I dropped back upon the
pillow, the pain subsided, and very soon I slept most peacefully."

Often amid the bustle of many duties and
cares, through a day of severely hard work, he would hurry to the chapel to lead the
evening meeting. He naturally entered the building with his heart beating fast, his body
very weary and his brain greatly disturbed in the conflict of thoughts, and the anxieties
to do his duty in so many disconnected relations of life. He could then kneel in prayer
for a moment alone and place himself in such harmony with the Eternal Peace or receive
such unction from on High as would make it possible for him to begin the meeting as fresh
in body and as calm in spirit as though he had been resting upon his couch through the
day.

All this may in a measure be accounted for by
the unbeliever upon the principal that it was the effect of his own mind upon his body and
that such a power is unquestionably given to any one whether he prays or not. Mr. Spurgeon
stoutly asserted that such was not the case with him at other times and persons not in the
habit of prayer do not find themselves exercising this great privilege.

"The Peace of God which passeth all
understanding" really comes only to them who make known their request unto God by
supplication with thanksgiving. But whatever may be thought of the reflex mental influence
in Mr. Spurgeons case it is certain that no human argument can reason away the facts
which we are now about to state.

He prayed that God would keep him safe on his
journeys and many a time during his history he came into the presence of great danger,
amidst most serious accidents and yet escaped without great injury; and often went free
wholly, because he had such confidence in God that lost not his presence of mind. But in
other cases nothing on his part could, humanly speaking, have prevented his death had
there not been a combination of providential circumstances for his protection which were
beyond human control.

We have spoken already of his preservation in
accordance with his prayer, through the colera and other contagious diseases, and of the
wonderful way in which he was guided step by step from the rustic condition of an
"Essex bumpkin," to the position of a cultivated scholar, and the most revered
character perhaps in England.

The experience of Mr. and Mrs. Spurgeon as
invalids is often quoted as a proof that his prayers were not answered, and these facts
have led many to fear that the other cases where his prayers seem to be answered, were
simply mysterious coincidences. We do not hope to explain why one prayer was answered and
another was rejected, except by saying that the will of God was otherwise for the good of
those who prayed. But we can only present the incidents which illustrate the power of
prayer in his case and leave them to the meditation of Christian readers.

There were several different occasions on
which Mr. Spurgeon was so anxious for a definite result in the service of God that he
spent the entire night in prayer. In three such cases he has told us he received the
answer in full to his petition. In the establishment of the Orphanage, he prayed that the
Lord would influence some person having the means to come forward and supply any
necessities of the case. The prayer was answered without any personal interference of his
own and without the person who was most influenced in the case knowing that he had spent
the night in prayer.

In three other instances in connection with
the same work when their money had given out and so far as he could see the Orphans would
be justify within twenty-four hours in suffering need of food, there by himself or with
his deacons he prayed and the answer came in each case from altogether unforseen and
unexpected quarters.

Mr. Spurgeon had been praying one night that
the Lord would send gifts with which to supply the necessities of the Orphanage and a
stranger in London was at the same time walking its foggy streets. He had never seen Mr.
Spurgeon nor read any of his sermons, but he had heard his name mentioned. The impression
upon that strangers mind that same night was so great as to cause him to visit Mr.
Spurgeon and make him a gift toward his church work. He had found it impossible to break
away from the fascinating call. He rang Mr. Spurgeons door-bell and insisted upon
seeing Mr. Spurgeon and giving him a large sum of money. He refused at that time even to
leave his name with Mr. Spurgeon, simply saying that he "lived many miles away."
Afterward he sent another princely gift saying that the pleasure he had received from the
other donation had made it one of the best investments of his life.

When the great Tabernacle was begun Mr.
Spurgeon prayed as we have already seen, that no workman might be injured during its
construction. The prayer was so distinctly answered there that in the construction of a
large business house near Ludgate Circus he was especially requested by the owners to come
and offer the same prayer in connection with their enterprise. There were many old
buildings to be pulled down and some very large ones to be constructed, yet in this case,
as in the former no persons were injured and the buildings were completed, to use the
owners expression, "with songs of grateful joy."

These cases where his prayer was offered in
one place and answered by some mysterious impression being made upon minds in another
place with whom there was no natural means of communication were multiplied into the
thousands. The history of all the great revivals at the Tabernacle presented numerous
illustrations of this fact. Mr. Spurgeon, prayed and while he was praying or immediately
thereafter, some person at a distance, felt it his duty to serve God in just the way, or
by giving just the amount for which Mr. Spurgeon had asked.

He did not tempt the Lord by asking foolish
things or by requesting God to do anything which was not for the furtherance of his divine
kingdom in the earth. Even the prayers he offered up for himself were always confined to
the thought that if he was himself favored of God he would only be a more useful
instrument in the Lords hands.

It would take many volumes to contain the
most condensed record of the instances where the prayers were so directly replied to as to
startle those who witnessed them and to fill those who believed in prayer with most
enthusiastic thanksgiving.

By far the most mysterious incidents
connected with his prayerful influence with the Almighty are shown in the conversion of
individuals during the many years of his successful ministry. His prayers for the
reformation and conversion of those who were not Christians who attended his service were
so continually and manifestly answered and were a matter of such public observation and
discussion that it is unnecessary to follow them. They belong to the common experience of
spiritual churches in other places and those who have worked in evangelistic or actual
church enterprises will recognize at once the power which was exercised by him as he
prayed for the descent of the Holy Spirit. But we come to more remarkable things when we
find that Mr. Spurgeons prayers for the conversion of people living at a distance
who had never heard of him and knew nothing whatever of his meetings or church, were
directly answered at the very time in places far distant.

A remarkable case was mentioned in 1887 when
Mr. Spurgeon at the request of friends made a special prayer in public for the conversion
of a son and husband who were absent in Australia. The friends who mentioned the matter to
Mr. Spurgeon were new acquaintances to him, had but a few days before moved into London.
They had never by word or by letter mentioned Mr. Spurgeon or his work to their friend in
Australia. He declares now that he has never read anything of Mr. Spurgeon and does not
remember that he had ever heard his name mentioned, although it was barely possible that
he might have seen the name in some of the newspapers. But on the very day and at the very
hour when Mr. Spurgeon engaged in a most fervent prayer, this man was at work upon a
building in Melbourne. He stopped while carrying a timber from one portion of the building
to another and said he was unable to go further, so quickly and deeply was he impressed
with a sense of his responsibility to God and of his lost condition of soul. He had not
attended church during his stay in Australia, and was not a regular attendant at any
church or chapel before he justify England. The tears came to his eyes, his hands
trembled, and he felt that he was forsaken of God because he had led such an unrighteous
life. He was in no sense a criminal or immoral man, but this religious impression was so
deep upon him that he went to the lowest story of the building, notified the
superintendent that he must go to his boarding house. He went there and fell upon his
knees and prayed for Gods forgiveness and there received, as he afterwards
testified, the "Light of Grace which reconciled him with his God." That same
night before going to bed, he wrote home to his people in London, telling them how he had,
without the advice or guidance of any human being, been led to seek the Christ.

In another case, a mother came to Mr.
Spurgeon in January 1872 and stated to him that her son had enlisted in the French Army,
and that she was very much afraid that in such surroundings he would be influenced by the
bad company and be altogether lost to Christian principles and perhaps to his family.

Mr. Spurgeon promised to pray for him but the
mother would not let him go unless he would kneel right then and there and pray with her
for her sons welfare. She has since stated that it was at half past four in the
afternoon that the prayer was offered; and he afterwards said that at precisely that hour
he was standing in the camp and that a strange impression ran through his body filling him
with a sense of dismay and terror as though in the presence of actual death. The Army was
not engaged in any conflict and there was no apparent evidence of any near engagement. His
emotions were so great that his face turned pale, which called the attention of his
comrades, who commented with excitement upon his fainting condition. He went to his tent
and there alone called upon God for forgiveness and help. By the very next mail which
justify the camp, he wrote to his mother stating the circumstance and asking her to pray
for him and at the same time strangely suggesting that he wished she would write to Mr.
Spurgeon and ask him to pray for him.

There is related still another case. In
September, 1878, Mr. Spurgeon attended the prayer-meeting at 12 oclock which was
held by a number of business men every day. One of the business men personally
unacquainted with Mr. Spurgeon arose in that meeting and stated that it was his belief if
Mr. Spurgeon would pray for the conversion of a brother then in Edinburgh, Scotland, that
it might be accomplished that very day. Mr. Spurgeon impulsively arose and said, "I
accept that challenge, let us call on God." That afternoon the brother in Edinburgh
was greatly disturbed in mind throughout all the business hours which remained of the day,
and went home to his family saying to them, he felt as though he had led and wasted his
life, and that he knew not what to do to reform, he was going to write at once to Mr.
Spurgeon, in London. He had no acquaintance with Mr. Spurgeon except such as came through
the newspapers and yet he wrote to him a long and urgent appeal that he would show him the
way of salvation.

At still another time one of the sons of a
deacon of the New Park Street Church, whose life had been a cause for worry to his parents
because of his inclination to unbelief and wildness, had purchased a ticket to come to
America intending to leave England without permitting his parents to know his purpose. The
deacon knew nothing whatever of his sons intentions, but he went to Mr. Spurgeon and
requested him to go into one of the ante-rooms of the church that they might there unite
together in prayer for his son. Mr. Spurgeon being in haste at first refused and hurriedly
started off on another errand but he had not gone far before he abruptly turned directly
about and calling after the deacon went into the ante-room to pray. There both of them
offered up their petitions with great earnestness for the salvation of the soul of the
son. The son was at that time on the wharf in Liverpool looking at the steamer which he
intended to take for America. He said afterwards in his testimony in the Metropolitan
Tabernacle as related to us that a chill seized his heart and affected his whole body,
that his mind become greatly excited and a sense of the sin he was committing in running
away from home and leaving such affectionate parents made him to loathe himself and he
wished he might die. He could not arouse sufficient courage to step aboard the steamer and
it sailed away without him. He walked up and down the streets and after going to his hotel
paced the room in positive misery. The temptation to take his own life was so strong that
he went out of the hotel to a gunsmiths with a view of purchasing a pistol with
which to shoot himself The gunsmiths shop was closed and he returned to his room and
paced to and fro until the thought that he ought to pray came to him so impulsively that
he knelt by his bedside and prayed. He poured out his soul in prayer and remained in that
posture of prayer until the daylight came. During the next day he was still very unhappy
but he was able to surrender himself entirely to the influence of Gods spirit and
with a happiness he was unable afterwards to describe, he returned his ticket to the
steamer office and with the money they repaid him purchased his ticket back to London and
to his surprised parents.

In 1887 Mr. Spurgeon visited Yorkshire at the
dedication of a small chapel and there met with a gentleman of culture and means, who was
not a Christian but who was attracted to the chapel by the fact that Mr. Spurgeon was to
be there. Mr. Spurgeon, as was his frequent custom, asked the gentleman if he was a
Christian, to which he replied distinctly, "No." Mr. Spurgeon then asked him if
he did not wish to be one, to which he replied emphatically, "No." Then Mr.
Spurgeon said, "God will ask you that question and I shall pray to Him tonight that
He do it at once." That night Mr. Spurgeon was late at a railway station when this
man came to his mind. He then, while walking upon the platform offered up repeated prayers
that God would call that gentleman to himself, and use him for great Christian good. Near
the same hour, if not precisely at the same time, that gentleman was in animated
conversation with some friends at an inn, he had been joking concerning the chapel
dedication and seemed to regard it as a subject of great sport that he should have been
found in a place of worship. He had described to his friends the absurd appearance of one
of his acquaintances who saw him come in and take a seat in the chapel. He broke off the
conversation in the middle of a sentence and with every appearance of great embarrassment
arose and asked to be excused, hurrying at once to his home; and there, that night read
the Bible earnestly and prayed for himself sincerely, and would not retire to rest until
he felt the evident presence of God in answer to his prayer. He himself gave a history of
the affair and said he never could account in any way for the very sudden turn in all his
sentiments and thoughts. He, however, believed that it was a stroke of providence
instantly set upon him in answer to Mr. Spurgeons prayer.

Another instance was related in a
Sunday-school gathering at Cambridge in 1884 wherein it was stated that Mr. Spurgeon had
been requested by a father to pray for the conversion of his little girl, then about
twelve years of age. Mr. Spurgeon made a note of the request upon a newspaper he had in
his hand at the time but laid the paper aside and forgot about the request for several
weeks. One day the paper was taken out from the library by a servant and providentially
laid upon the window sill where Mr. Spurgeon found it while he was waiting for a friend to
call. He there found the memorandum he had made and turned away to his library and knelt
by his own chair and prayed for the conversion of the child. He felt so sincerely that his
prayer was to be answered that he continued in prayer much longer than usual and was
aroused from it by a ring at the door. Supposing, of course, that it was a friend he had
invited, he went directly to the door himself and what was his surprise to be met directly
by the young girl for whom he had been praying and whose very first request was "Mr.
Spurgeon, I have come to ask you to tell me how to be a Christian". She has since
stated that she was passing the house at the time, with no previous thought of any serious
nature concerning her Christian experience, but that she found it utterly impossible to
pass the gate without turning in. The impulse was so great upon her to ring the door bell
that she had actually pulled it before she had made up her mind what to say to Mr.
Spurgeon. She has since been one of the loveliest and most effective of the Sunday-school
teachers in the Tabernacle.

Mr. Spurgeons own son was converted in
the same way, in direct answer to his prayers when away from home. A stranger felt it to
be his duty to show the young man the way of righteousness and that impression to speak
for Christ came to him with singular distinctness at the very hour when Mr. Spurgeon was
praying the Lord that his son might be redeemed.

At a prayer meeting held in the Tabernacle a
few years since which has always been remembered by the participants as one of unusual
solemnity, Mr. Spurgeon requested members of the church to pray especially for the
conversion of some distant friend. There were several hundred people present at the time
and many of them acted upon Mr. Spurgeons suggestion and during a season of silent
prayer asked directly for the salvation of definite persons of their personal acquaintance
who could not at the time have known that they were being remembered in prayer. Four weeks
later at a church meeting one of the Christians stated how his prayer had been most
wonderfully answered that night and heartily thanked Mr. Spurgeon for having joined with
him in such a request. That statement introduced the whole question again and it is said
that over fifty different persons testified that night that their prayers had been
directly answered. In some cases while they were praying the friends for whom they
petitioned the Lord had surrendered themselves to Christs service, and in no less
than ten cases the converted persons were there present that night in the meeting.

For over twenty-five years these singular
answers to prayers had been an almost daily experience in the work of the Metropolitan
Tabernacle. Men know it, they see it, and yet it passes without the study or without the
notice which would attach to almost any other incident thus repeating itself through such
a series of years. The hopelessness of finding any explanation of it in natures laws
may have prevented the examination of the topic and the very frequency of the experiences
there and in other places may serve to take it out of the list of the miraculous.

Mr. Spurgeon often stated that the day of
miracles was passed and seems to have regarded these incidents as commonplace. But there
such facts stand, testified to by many thousand of credible people, and their results
having a present and everlasting effect upon the history of England itself Prayers were
offered by Mr. Spurgeon, supported by the petitions of his people, and drunkards reformed,
thieves ceased to steal, the vile forsook their vices, the dishonest turned to
righteousness, the ungodly called upon the Lord, scoffers believed in Jesus Christ, the
useless became useful, and injurious became helpful, society was cleaner, streets were
safer, the laws were better administered, homes were sweeter and happier, the nation more
prosperous and commerce itself becomes more stable. What a factor this has been in the
life of England.

Mr. Needham in his book also gives an
instance of a remarkable answer to Mr. Spurgeons prayer. "On another occasion
Dr. Brock and Mr. Spurgeon were dining together at the mansion of a beloved friend in
Regents Park when the Orphanage building was in progress, and money was wanted which
was not in hand. Mr. Spurgeon suffering from feeble health, still expressed his strong
faith in God that the money would come to hand in due time. Just as the dinner was ended,
the servant entered the room with a telegram from his private secretary announcing that an
unknown donor had sent $5,000 for the Orphanage. Dr. Brock immediately arose and poured
forth his utterances of gratitude in the most joyful manner, and they all united in prayer
on their knees to magnify the Lord.

What a blessing to London and to the world it
was to have such a saintly, praying man live and teach there for forty-seven years. He
furnished an avenue of communication between earth and heaven, between the material and
the spiritual, through which has flowed the vigorous influences which have blessed the
world beyond estimation and made heaven itself the brighter. O, Thou mighty Ruler of the
universe, send to this world many more such earnest men of prayer!